Supernova Study No. 29

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A mixed media work titled, “Supernova Study No. 29,” by Tanekeya Word. The relief print depicts the elaborate, Fulani-inspired, futuristic, protective hairstyle of a woman with her back to the viewer. Pictured from the neck up, her hair is parted down the center of her scalp to the nape and arranged into rows of braids or twists. Woven into the center of the hair part is a double, five-pointed, star-shaped pattern. At the center of the star is a star-shaped cutout featuring a silver, holographic, vinyl decal. The woman’s loose ends have been gathered up and styled into two large, round, spoked wheel shapes on either side of her head. The top and bottom spokes on each wheel feature two five-pointed stars twisted into the center of each spoke. Each of the stars have cutouts at the center and are overlaid over four color images.

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